5% Of Sale Benefits Gamers & Grognards

Friday, March 11, 2016

I had first heard an inkling about this new foray from +Matt Finch, about a year ago while discussing what our intentions were for Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day. I was sworn to secrecy on it, partly because many things were still up in the air. Well, now things are out in the open. I could go on about it, but I might as well let the press release do the talking.

Kobold Press, Frog God Games, Troll Lord Games, Green
Ronin, Hero Games, Rogue Comet, Pacesetter Games and Simulations, Eldritch
Enterprises, Far Future Enterprises and TableTopLibrary.com are
jointly announcing that, effective immediately, our companies will all be
offering our Fifth Edition, Pathfinder, Traveller, OSR, Hero System,
Fate, and other products through a new RPG download store called
TableTopLibrary, as a one-stop shop for OGL Fifth Edition
products. TableTopLibrary, website https://tabletoplibrary.com/is a
newly-formed online store for RPG books and pdfs designed to offer both
electronic versions and hard copy versions of books produced by your favorite
publishers. TabletopLibrary will also offer a full slate of products and
resources for other role-playing games, including Pathfinder and
OSR-games. All of us will continue our own websites and stores, but
TableTopLibrary offers a place to draw all these products together in one
place for convenience.

At this time, by coming together as a consortium,
we can offer the high-quality products we pride ourselves on; provide a one-stop
shopping spot with outstanding customer service; and allow a better experience
for publishers, and more importantly, for customers . Centralized electronic
book fulfillment, kickstarter fulfillment, and single-location warehousing will
improve our delivery speed, accuracy, and customer service in the RPG download
market.

Our reasons for setting up a consortium at this time include (1)
each partner retains ownership and editorial control over the individual
campaign worlds and other “intellectual property” that our fans have known and
loved for years; (2) our desire to offer physically higher-quality printing,
paper quality, and binding than print on demand outlets offer; and (3) the
desire to continue drawing upon and increasing the vast resources of Open
Game Content as opposed to other
alternatives.TableTopLibrary is committed to offering a
deep and broad-based marketplace of Fifth Edition products, superior to
any other online store, as well as many other game system products. We are
joined in a partnership of many large publishers in this project, and expect
many more to join us as time goes on. TableTopLibrary will be issuing its
own press release soon, describing the advantages and the procedures involved in
joining.

You can continue buying products directly from each of us, as
always. But if you want to browse the whole library of Fifth Edition and
other products produced under the Open Game License over the years, we’re
letting you know that there’s a new online game store in town.

Check out
TableTopLibrary at TableTopLibrary.com - The Leading
Source for RPGs and watch us grow! We think you’ll be impressed.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Thought you missed out on all of the great GM's Day sales because you were at Gary Con? Sad because your bi-weekly payday wasn't the week of GM's Day? Well chin up folks. OBS/DrivethruRPG/RPGNOW has a 30% Off GM's Day Sale running until St. Pats Day! That's right. You still have a full week to take advantage of the savings. So, what do they have to offer the discerning OSR enthusiast? Well, here are my picks.

Let's start with North Wind Adventures, who have the entire product line for ASTONISHING SWORDSMEN & SORCERERS of HYPERBOREA at 30% off for this sale! The prices right now are great. I personally love this game. It takes the framework of Swords & Wizardry and crams if full of Appendix N goodness. If you're itching for a classic Sword & Sorcery game, or a fantasy filled with Lovecraftian weirdness, you owe it to yourself to pick this game up. Even if you don't intend to play it as written, the options in AS&SH can add a lot to your Swords & Wizardry and OD&D game. The class options alone are worth a look, and even if you don't want the core game, the adventures are fantastic and can be played on S&W with little to no conversion! I'll be picking up a few of the modules that I haven't had a chance to get yet, myself.

Next up, OSR cartographer Dyson Logos has a trio of goodness on sale right here. Another biggie, if you've missed out in the past. He has Dyson's Delves I and II as well the 2015 Dodecahedron Cartographic Review in the sale. Again, if these are things you've missed out on, now is a great time to grab them.

Last, but certainly not least is a LIST of great White Star products. Grab these while they have this smokin' sale price! White Star may be the best thing to come from Swords & Wizardry since Swords & Wizardry!

Magic Pig Media (+Chuck Thorin ) has two products that I am a fan of on sale, either taking your White Star campaign in a drastically different direction.

Have Death Ray, Will Travel If Rayguns & Rockets are what you seek, this is a neat little supplement that can easily help White Star replicate Flash Gordon and Buck Rodgers style pulp sci-fi as well as 1950's era space exploration games.

Stark Space If dystopian sci-fi is more your speed or you've been itching to run a game based on the work of Philip K. Dick or even Judge Dredd, Stark Space is where it's at.

Between Star & Void Do you like Jedi or Sith? Of course you do. Grab this for a great take on White Star's Alternat Jedi and Sith traditions.

Sisters of the Aquarian Order Speaking of orders & traditions, if you've ever wanted to drop "space witches" like the Bene Gesserit of Dune into a game, this book by +Timothy Brannan is a fantastic piece of work. It is actually written to be able to compliment Between Star & Void

Friday, March 4, 2016

So... another year and I am, yet again, not at Gary Con. So, here's a long overdue post, some old school gaming related material to tide me over...

Continuing on with an idea I had for more simple dice mechanics, begun back in the Simple Dice Mechanics for Reaction Rolls post, I have come up with a system loosely based upon the one provided for troops in Swords & Spells for OD&D. You can see pages 19-20 of the aforementioned OD&D supplement to see my inspiration for this system.

For those of us who are avid Swords & Wizardry enthusiasts, +Matt Finch presents us with this in the complete rulebook, with regards to morale:

"Morale

Certain monsters, such as mindless or undead creatures, are fearless and always fight to the death. The majority, however, will not continue to fight a hopeless battle; they will seek to retreat, flee, or surrender. The Referee decides when monsters abandon the battle and retreat, based on the situation and the monsters’ intelligence. Keep in mind that the party’s own non-player-character allies might decide to flee if their prospects of survival look grim."

It's up to the referee. I love it. I love the simplicity. HOWEVER (yeah, you knew that was coming,) just like with the reaction rolls, sometimes I like things random. Sometimes I want the same surprise that my players get. I also don't always want to make every decision for every creature that the players encounter. I have always used a relatively arbitrary 2d6 roll, based upon conditions, kept in my head for morale. That said, I've been feeling like it's time for a change. I've toyed with a few things, but re-reading the actual OD&D rules, including Swords & Spells, I was inspired to create what follows. Bear in mind, these rules will apply to henchmen, hirelings and troops used by the PCs just as much as they apply to enemies!

Rules! We've Got Some Rules Around Here!

I. Situational Examples For Rolling Morale Checks

In Combat

Creature(s) drop below 50% HP

"Leader" of group is slain/unconscious

When opposed by superior magic

When drastically outnumbered/out "gunned"

"Elite" allies are slain or withdrawing from combat

When the tide of battle turns against the creature(s)

Out of Combat (in the case of henchmen, hirelings and pack animals, this may result in desertion of the PCs)

Consistent encounters with "otherworldly," eldritch or otherwise out of the ordinary creatures (ex. common men at arms encountering undead or demons for the first time, or consistently)

Exposed to taboo locale, creature, power etc.

II. The Morale Check

When a morale check is made, roll 1d20 comparing the result to the following tables. If the result is equal to, or lower than the desired number, the check is a success. If it is higher, then the creature(s) fail the morale check and attempt to flee, in combat, or desert the situation if outside of combat.

Base Morale Check

Creature's HD Check

Below 1 5

1 - 2 6

2+ - 3 7

3+ - 4 8

4+ - 5 9
5+ - 6 10

6+ - 7 11

7+ - 8 12

8+ - 9 13

9+ - 10 14

10+ - 11 15

11+ - 12 16

12+ - 13 17

13+ - 14 18

14+ & Higher 19

NOTE - There is always a chance of failure, except in extreme cases as determined by the Referee. If any modifiers raise morale to 20 or above, on a roll of 20 a second roll is made. If the second roll also results in a 20 the roll is failed.

* -These bonuses and penalties do not stack. Use the best possible bonus/penalty applicable.** -cumulative over time

Loyalty Ratings
When a henchman, hireling or military unit is acquired a roll will be made to determine how loyal they will be to the PC. This is done the in the same manner that attribute scores are determined. Rolling 3d6.

This can also be done, if needed for the loyalty that an army, unit etc. has toward it's leader. An example might be that the PCs want to hire away some of a local merchant's guards. A roll should be made to determine how loyal the NPCs are to their "leader" and a morale check should be made based upon this with modifiers based upon the PC's CHA and what the PC is offering.

Similarly loyalty ratings can be applied to ideals, jobs etc. where NPCs are concerned, if the referee wants a random factor added to a situation. How much do these guards really care if the treasure they are guarding in route to the castle comes up light when they arrive? Is this thief really dedicated to his guild, or will he give up secrets signs and passwords for the right price?